"A Bright Room Called Day" Poster
11 x 17", poster
1996
Western Connecticut State University
"After the Danbury Fire-bug"
The Way Captain Keating Gets After That Much Wanted Individual
Article regarding "Firebug" investigation.
1889-08-18
Danbury Aug. 17 - With a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property, credited to him in the last six months; in spite of the $2000 reward and the aroused state of the community, the fire-bug is still on deck. It will always be set down in Danbury's history , if Danbury don't go out of the history business in the next six months, as "The Terrible Reign of Jak, the Burner."
Not even a clue has been gathered, no trace whatever has this man left behind him, except rows on rows of burned buildings. The police seem powerless in the matter.
But one name above all others of our Danbury officials will go down to posterity weighted with the bravos of our 18000 inhabitants. It si that of Captain Michael J. Keating, our glorious chief of police. Nobly and faithfully has he stuck to his post of duty in the ill fated and doomed town. No man has worked harder, or eat more than this man.
Our noble chief has sworn to capture this devil. And he will keep his word, even if the man himself objects. If the fire bug calls on Michael J. Keating with a letter of introduction, an a confession, he had better look out, or "Mike" will speak to him about it.
If any city in the whole United States of Patagonia either wants tips on catching fire-bugs let them apply early before our chief puts them all on the bargain counter.
No still hunter is Michael J. His soul is too honest for5 that. He is out for that bug and his motto is "shoot'em in the snoot." His great heart is too open to resort to any low devices calculated to deceive that gentleman on a dark night. What cares he for the fact that the fire-bug was so deceitful as to burn down a $40,000 factory the other night when five men were watching that one factory to keep it from being burned down.
So Michael J> arrays himself as the Herald's artist has pictured him and starts out every night patrolling the streets. First he encases himself in a bright blue uniform. Then he places upon his manly breast a large size silver polished bright new No. 16 policeman's shield. Finally for apparel he tips off with a large clean white sombrero, plainly distinguishable on th a dark night at least a mile away. For arms he adjusts a couple of revolvers to his pockets bowie knives to his boots and with a double barrelled shot gun in one hand and a lighted lantern in the other he sallies out.
Up to a late hour last night the fire-bug still kept out of his way and it is said that Michael intends adding a double bass brass band and a large transparency to his equipments.
"An Honest Man"and "Impetuous Captain Keating"
Two short satirical pieces - one on Mayor Hopkins and the other on Captain Keating
Mayor Hopkins and an unfortunate statement he made regarding a failed attempt at extending trolley service to Bethel. Keating apparently wanted to shoot his son's dog with his revolver and found that it had gone missing.
1889-11-03
CT State Library
"Ateha"
[Abstract Mixed Materials]
8 x 10" ink and paint laquered on cloth, glued to fiber board
1962
The Marjorie Echols Collection - MS035
8 x 10"
cardboard
from The Marjorie Echols Collection
currently located in WCSU Archives
"Barrel in the snow"
13 x 11", watercolor painting
Still life of a cut barrel in the snow.
undated
"Behind the 8 Ball" Political Cartoon
This cartoon features support for Jasper McLevy, promising taxpayers leniency if he becomes the mayor of Bridgeport, CT.
1920s
Smedley Collection
MS022
"Bravery Wins a Commission"
1 clipping
Article announcing Warner's promotion to lieutenant in August of 1944
1944-09-08
ms026_36_29_001
"Celebrated Special" Danbury Hat
1 hat, with sweat band (removed)
Mens/boys 6.75 hat; Black fur felt bowler hat with silk band, silk bound brim, and leather sweatband. The stamp on the inside of the crown reads: Celebrated Special Danbury Hat, A.&S.R. (Abraham & Strauss?). Includes a United Hatters stamp under the sweatband.
1920s
"Corner" of Candlewood Lake
3.5" x 5.5"
Photo postcard of women in row boats on Candlewood Lake in Danbury
1940s
"Country Fair Becomes Land of the Lava Lamp"
THE TALK OF DANBURY FAIR
MALL; Country Fair Becomes Land of
the Lava Lamp
By NICK RAVO, Special to the New York Times
Published: September 04, 1987
It is country fair season, but it has been almost six years since anyone has seen a Ferris
wheel, a 320-pound squash or an ox pull here in this fast-growing western Connecticut
city.
That is because the Great Danbury State Fairgrounds is now the Danbury Fair Mall, and
the annual autumn array of local produce, livestock displays and carnival games has
given way to Macy's, Tape World and Manchu Wok.
''The kids did like going to the fair, but I like the shopping,'' said Nancy H. Samsel, a
Bethel homemaker. ''The area needed something.''
The mall, one of the largest in New England, opened a year ago on the former
fairgrounds at the intersection of Interstate 84 and Route 7 in northern Fairfield
County.
Local fair lovers bemoaned the loss of the 130-acre fairgrounds when it was sold in 1981.
The sentiment was even more heartfelt when artifacts of the 112-year-old fair - such as a
statue of a dancing hippo - were auctioned off.
But the mall's owners, Wilmorite Inc. of Rochester, decided to keep some of the fair's
folksy flavor in the shopping center's architecture. On the second floor of the glassceilinged mall, for example, the fair's carousel is near the video games.
That seemed to have satisfied most people who were concerned about losing another
piece of the area's fading rural character. In fact, most shoppers today appear to carry
only the vaguest memories of the fairground's past.
''What's wrong with having a shopping mall here?'' said Susan Mora of Brewster, N.Y., a
hairdresser who works at the mall. ''This is what the people want. Besides, the fair was
only once a year.''
;We had company come down from Massachusetts, and we took them to the Bronx Zoo
earlier this morning and we figured we'd take them here, too,'' said Mary R. Fillippini of
Bristol. ''They like this even better.''
''I'm all for it,'' she added. Grapefruit Graffiti
It used to be that a shopping mall was just a good place to bring the children, maybe
pick up a sweater for grandpa, maybe price a new VCR. But no more. No sir. Here in the
Danbury Fair Mall, one also can watch a nursing student write graffiti on a grapefruit
with a laser beam. Try to find that at a country fair.
''Yeah, this really gets the people over here,'' said Beth C. Gallagher, an assistant for a
Danbury medical center that had set up a booth for a weekend health-care show.
The laser beam was part of a wart removal demonstration. Earlier in the day, someone
on the center's staff had used it to brand the grapefruit with ''Warts Die'' and ''Sunkist
Loves Kathy.''
''We've had quite a few people come by,'' said Johanna M. Moore of Brookfield, a
receptionist for the medical center. ''They ask if we can do it right here. You know, burn
their warts off.'' Rambo, Move Over
Bored with the laser wart removal? Well, there is a hot new machine at the Time Out
video game center called Contra. A player collects points by directing two smiling
characters named Lance and Bill on a rampage through the jungle. The more people
(presumably Sandinistas) that Lance and Bill kill, the more points.
Caution: the attack appears to signal direct United States military involvement in
Nicaragua. Lance and Bill, from their likenesses on the machine, do not seem to be
Nicaraguans.
''I wouldn't want my kids playing this,'' said Richard B. Hays of Bedford Village, N.Y.,
who brought his three children to the mall. ''Look at these guys. One of them looks like
Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the other one looks like Sylvester Stallone.''
A bit stunned, Mr. Hays walked away from the Contra game in the direction of a less
political pinball machine. ''I'm looking for one that says Persian Gulf,'' he said
sarcastically. Subspecies 'Mall Rat'
The Time Out, besides being a classroom for subliminating foreign policy, also is
headquarters for ''mall rats,'' a subspecies of teen-ager also known as ''mallies.'' You've
seen them. Perhaps your son or daughter is one.
''I see the same group of people walking around for two or three hours,'' said Stefani
Williams of Ridgefield, a 17-year-old clerk at Tape World, a music shop that sells no
records, just tapes and compact disks. ''They never buy anything. They just hang out.'' ''I
just saw these two girls,'' she added. ''They were walking around, eating dinner, going to
the arcade. They must be 15 years old. I guess this is the equivalent to the diner in the
50's.''
''There are a lot of people who work here full time and spend all their time here after and
before work,'' said Robin Wilkie, 17, of Danbury, a clerk in a shop that sells gadgets like
sonic flea collars and lava lamps. ''They have no other life.''
Bill Olsen and Mike Riordon, a pair of watery-eyed 18-year-olds from Ridgefield, seem
to be classic examples of your average disaffected mall rat.
Mr. Olsen is a drummer in a local rock group called Sinister Ace. Mr. Riordon mows
lawns. They both giggle a lot, too.
''Uh, it's nothing special,'' Mr. Olsen said. ''If this wasn't here, we'd go to the Bowl-aRama.''
''The Bowl-a-Rama?'' Mr. Riordon said.
''Yeah, the Bowl-a-Rama,'' Mr. Olsen said. They both start giggling again. ''I don't come
here that often,'' Mr. Olsen said.
''Yes, you do,'' Mr. Riordon said. ''You're here all the time.'' They start giggling again.
''What's the next question,'' Mr. Olsen asked, taking out a cigarette.
Suddenly, another mall rat scoots by. ''Burn the mall,'' he shouts. ''Bring back the fair.''
Ready, Set, Freeze
The livestock exhibits may be long gone, but mallgoers can spend a few hours here
watching humans on display.
At several locations, groups of two and three male and female models pose as
mannequins. They attract large crowds, too. Fifty or 60 people at once.
Sometimes, when the models get very, very still, the audience becomes so enamored
that they seem to freeze - just like the mannequins. When this happens, an entire wing
of the mall can look just like a wax museum.
''It's kind of weird,'' said Kevin P. Haight, 18, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., a model-mannequin
who spends several hours a day staring out at the shoppers staring back at him. ''All
these people coming here just to go shopping.''